Winter is a season for diplomacy. Due to the weather, unless there is an emergency or a great opportunity, few daimyo are present in winter. When I arrived in Mino, the reason why I caught up with Saito Yoshiryu to send troops was because in November of that year, Nobunaga killed Nobukatsu, who was trying to rebel again, and he felt that he had an opportunity. However, he underestimated Nobunaga's prestige and control in Owari, and in vain, he unexpectedly fulfilled my fate with Kawari.

Now, six years later, the world has changed a lot. At first, Yoshiryu looked down on Nobunaga, and was even ashamed to meet Nobunaga at Shotokuji Temple, but now his territory is being eroded by Nobunaga, and his son is being overshadowed by the Mino trio; When he became the imperial judge of the shogun, he was ambitious to do something big, so he did not hesitate to offend the Asai family, who were related by marriage, and specially formed an alliance with the Rokkaku family in order to open the way in and out of Kyoto; Unexpectedly, the Asai family defeated the Rokkaku family in the Battle of Norada, and after his own death, he entered Inabayama at the request of Neno Hiroshi and started his son's idea.

The first assessment on the fifth day of the first month of the new year, all the ministers gathered together. Nobunaga is in the main position, with Sakuma Nobumori, Shibata Katsuie, Takigawa Kazuyoshi and Mori Kasei on the left, and Hayashi Hidesada, Niwa Nagahide, me and Murai Sadakatsu on the right. These are the eight important ministers directly under the Oda family at present. In addition, there are Saji Weizhen, Tsuda Hideshige and others, although there are generals, but they are only responsible for governing one side and do not participate in the center.

The rest of the generals sat at the door of the assessment room at the bottom of the head, facing Nobunaga. At the head of the pack was Ikeda Tsuneko, who was trusted by Nobunaga and was stationed at the forefront of the war against Inuyama Nobukiyo, and after the capture of Inuyama Castle, he became the lord of the castle and was promoted to the rank of general. Then there is Murai Sadakatsu's deputy Shimada Hideshun, and then there are the grandfather of the Imperial Observatory, Hideshige E, the head of the Red Mother Cloth Bun Maeda Toshiie, the Black Lady Bun Kawajiri Hidetaka, Sasa Narimasa, and Kinoshita Hideyoshi...... Yoshiyuki Sawaki is also there, as well as Naomasa Tsukami and Kanamori Nagaku, who performed very well in the construction of Komakiyama and became a general.

A great deal of these people are from the Maternal Cloth; And I'm also from Nobunaga's horse family. Ikeda Tsuneko is a general because of his identity, but he was also Nobunaga's close attendant before. There is also Kinoshita Hideyoshi, who was originally Nobunaga's handyman.

Perhaps, it won't be long before our cronies will be able to occupy the entire assessment room......

As the number of cronies in the assessment office increased, Nobunaga became more and more arbitrary. This time, he suddenly proposed a plan: to form an alliance with the Asai family and jointly deal with the Saito family.

"Lord, do you want to think about it again? The Asai family is the mother family of Saito Ryuko, so how can it be allied with the main family? Lin Xiuzhen said what many people were thinking.

"Keijiro!" Nobunaga suddenly called my name, "Tell you, three years ago, not long after the family left Inabayama Castle, what did your navy Mufu group hear?" ”

"Yes." I owe it," ...... In October of that year, the Asai family received a request from Hiroshi Mine and sent 5,000 men to Inabayama Castle, only to be invited back by the Mino trio. Afterwards, it was said that Neno Hiroshi lost his position in the Saito family, and was almost ordered to cut his stomach, and Inaba Yamajo also strengthened the care of Saito Ryuxing. ”

At that time, our side was defeated and was being rectified, and all the monitoring forces were used to stabilize the collar, and only my Mufu team was still active in Mino. And after the incident, the Mino trio and Asai Fang all tacitly agreed, and Akao Kiyotsuna also pretended to be harmonious to meet Saito Ryuko, so the matter did not spread, and the rift between the two parties was not revealed. Even Takigawa Kazuki, who had been staring at Kita Ise and Nishimino since then, didn't notice it.

But now that he knows, Takigawa Kazuyi immediately discovered the strangeness. He looked at me in surprise and leaned over to congratulate Nobunaga, "So it seems that the Asai family also has ideas for Mino!" Then there is hope for the alliance, and the pressure of the main family in Nishimino will also be shared by the Asai family...... The lord's move is really wise! ”

"It's just that the infighting in the Roxagonal family at the end of last year was a very rare opportunity for the Asai family, who was an enemy. Will they form an alliance with their own family at this time? That's tantamount to making enemies on both sides! Niwa Nagahide said worriedly.

"I'll make a condition they can't refuse," Nobunaga nodded, "Plus, I'll marry Ashi...... After hearing that he had separated from the daughter of the Rokkaku family's retainer Hirai Dingwu, Asai Nagamasa has not yet decided on the main room. ”

His statement surprised many retainers.

Oda Nobunaga's special affection for Aichi was evident to almost everyone in Kiyoshu and Komakiyama. Ashi's treatment has always been on par with Gui Die, who is his wife. Among Nobunaga's younger sisters, Aichi had the best place to live, the most maids, and the best and most used...... The two ox carts I offered at the beginning were one for each of Ah Shi and Guidie.

Moreover, Inuyamaden married, Toyamaden married, Kohata Hall married, and Odai Hall married...... Even his younger sister Ah Dog, who is less than thirteen years old, and his daughter Deji, who is four or five years old, have been engaged early, and Ah Shi, who is only seventeen or eighteen years old, has not made any moves. In this era of robbing Lori, it's really rare to be able to raise such a big one. Many people privately believe that Nobunaga is probably reluctant to marry this sister, and maybe she will be admitted to the house...... Judging by Nobunaga's unscrupulous surname, this is not impossible.

In addition, as the first beauty of the family, there are not many admirers of Ashi. A little more reliable is Ikeda Hengxing, who is Nobunaga's milk brother and Yoshiri's brother, and is a retainer of this family tree, and his age is also suitable, so he is indeed very promising to become Achi's husband and Nobunaga's brother-in-law; The unreliable Shibata Katsuya, this person is really, he is a lot older, and Ah Shi is still too young to be a daughter; There are also monkeys, eating on the stage, looking at the sky, and not looking at how difficult it is to marry Ning Ning......

As soon as Nobunaga's decision to marry Aichi came out, many people were saddened. But everyone understood that Nobunaga had already made up his mind and there was no room for change.

The next thing is to decide who will send the Asai family and the bottom line of the alliance.

Nobunaga nodded to three people: "Nagahide, you are good at rhetoric and etiquette, so you will serve as a chief envoy and be fully responsible for the matters of contact; Keijiro, you are good at weighing and communicating, and the terms of the alliance are drafted by you; Yiyi, I heard that the Asai family is relatively scattered, and the retainers and the main family are not consistent in many things, so you are responsible for finding out the opinions of the ministers, and you can use them to win over if necessary. ”

"Yes!" The three of us took the order together.

……，……

If you want to talk about the Asai family, it can be said that it is the most miserable daimyo of the Warring States period. At the beginning, he finally replaced the Kyogoku family and obtained the territory of Kita-Omi, and then he has been bullied by Rokkaku Dinglai.

Who is Hexagonal Dinglai? That's a super fierce man who chased and released Ashikaga Yoshinoki, supported Ashikaga Yoshiharu, and resisted the Miyoshi family, as the protector of Yoshiharu and Yoshiaki. In addition, he is also the leader of the shogunate, and he is Yoshiki's motofu ebony pro. Under his rule, the Rokkaku family reached its heyday, and all the retainers and wealthy families were forced to move into the Guanyin Temple Castle, where he arbitrarily controlled all parties to the raiders.

As a result, the first daimyo of the Asai family, Asai Ryomasa, was tragic, and was repeatedly driven out of Kita-Omi by Rokkaku Joyori, and fled to Echizen and Mino for refuge. Fortunately, the three good families are always pulling back behind their backs, so that the hexagonal family can't do all the work; And Echizen and Mino are worried about the invasion of the Rokkaku family, and have been vigorously supporting the Asai family.

For these two families, the Asai family is the energy shield in front of them, and every time they are violently attacked, when the energy of the shield runs out and is on the verge of collapse, they immediately give sufficient power to replenish it, so that the shield can hold up again.

That's why the Asai family struggled to survive.

According to Asai Ryomasa's feelings, life must be like swinging, the daimyo during the rush hour, the refugee during the trough period, and he keeps going back and forth between them, Echizen and Mino are the two cables tied to the swing.

In 1541, Mino's guardian Toki Yoriyun and the guardian Saito Toshimasa (Saito Hideryu and Saito Michizo) were in a confrontation, and they were unable to support Asai, so one of the swing ropes was broken. Asai Ryomasa struggled to support him, and died of exhaustion the following year, leaving behind a broken Asai brand swing frame, which his son Hisashi Asai continued to play a few more times.

Later, the fierce hexagonal Dinglai was finally taken away by God, which made the Asai family breathe a sigh of relief. However, immediately after that, the pillar of the Asakura family, the leader of the Asakura-Asai Covenant, also passed away, and the support from Asakura was immediately greatly reduced; Under the elimination of one and the other, the Asai family couldn't hold on, and finally surrendered to the Rokkaku family.

However, it would be a big mistake to think that the Asai family is a good stubble. The history of the Asai family is not much cleaner than that of Saito Michizo. Asai Ryomasa was a member of the Asai family, and later married the daughter of the clan and inherited the Asai clan, only to become a slightly older head of the wealthy family. Later, in 1523, taking advantage of the Northern Omi guardian Kyogoku family's imperial family, Asai Ryomasa followed Asami Sadano and supported Kyogoku Takanobu to defeat the guardian Kyogoku HD, becoming an important role in the Northern Omi Hao clan alliance; Later, Asai Ryomasa defeated Asami Sadano as the leader of the alliance, controlled Kohoku, and grasped the real power of the Kyogoku family; Later, he turned the guardian Kyogoku Takanobu into a puppet, and then turned him into a prisoner......

Compared with Saito Michizo, Ryomasa Asai only killed two fewer people, and his power was a little smaller.

By the time Asai Nagamasa arrived, the situation finally improved a bit. In the battle of Norata, Asai Nagamasa defeated the 25,000 men of the Rokkaku clan with 12,000 troops, regained the status of a yomito daimyo, and expanded his power from 120,000 koku in the north to 390,000 koku in the north of Omi, becoming a great force that could compete with the Rokkaku family.

However, the situation of the Asai family is very complicated. At the beginning, Asai Ryomasa was just the leader of the Hao Alliance, and he repeatedly lost his family and fled, and his binding force on the rest of the Hao clan was very small. After nearly 20 years of operation, we have exhausted all kinds of means, and finally the integration has been roughly completed, and we have advanced from separate policies to important ministers.

In addition, the Asai family itself was divided into two parts, the former head of the family, Hisamasa Asai and the current head of the family, Asai Nagamasa, just like the later parliaments, representing the conservatives on one side and the reformers on the other, each leading a part of the parliament, and then forming the entire parliament to deal with the affairs of the territory through consultation.

The Asai family used this seemingly open cooking system to gather all the wealthy families in the territory. For example, after being exiled, Asai Hisamasa was able to return to the territory and hold a considerable part of the power, as if the modern opposition party had returned to power and formed a government with the ruling party. Such a peculiar situation is really unbelievable in this era.

At this moment, Takeda Shintora, Nagao Harukei, Saito Michizo and others were full of cattle......

The demand for an alliance with them is like a proposal in a modern parliament, with some in favor, some against, some abstaining, some withdrawing, and some in tandem...... It wasn't your average buzz. Niwa Nagahide said dryly, and Takigawa Kazuki broke his leg, and finally reached a preliminary intention to form an alliance. Rao is like this, and Asai Hisasa's faction still does not cooperate and puts on a cold attitude.

But, in any case, the two sides finally sat down together and began to negotiate the details of the alliance.

I met Asai Nagamasa, and the words began.

"Since you have come to ask for a covenant, please show considerable sincerity!" Ryo Asai said first. He is a lineage minister of the Asai clan, and has served as the preacher of the long and long masa.

"The so-called alliance is naturally beneficial to both parties, so how can we ask for it? As for sincerity...... Princess Aichi is a treasure of my Oda family, and she is deeply favored by His Royal Highness Danmasa. Marrying into the Asai family this time shows our sincerity. "Niwa Nagahide is neither humble nor arrogant.

"If the sincerity of the Oda family is only like that, then there is no need to talk about the alliance. My Asai family is currently focusing on Minami-Omi, and there is no need for an alliance with the Oda family. Hidetaka Takanose said. He was originally a retainer of the Rokkaku family, and before the Battle of Norata, he accepted the strategy of Asai Nagamasa, and was the hero who helped Asai win the Battle of Norada.

"You shouldn't have agreed to an alliance at all! His Royal Highness Long Xing's mother is the aunt of the lord, and the two parties are relatives! Akao Kiyotsuna shouted.

"At the beginning, His Highness Akao led 5,000 people and was surrounded by groups under Inabayama Castle, so that's what he must have said!" Takigawa Kazuyi couldn't help but be sarcastic. This is a die-hard, so Takigawa Kazuyi has eaten two closed doors, and he is harboring a strong grudge against such rude behavior.

"Your Highness! Ask for a life-and-death ......"

"His Highness Akao, please don't be impatient, don't be impatient!" Anyangji Shijiu said. He was the main proponent of the marriage.

……，……

"Alright, calm down, everybody!" Nagamasa Asai finally spoke. He was a tall, good-looking samurai. Because of the First Battle of Norada, he gathered great prestige at home.

As soon as these words came out, the ministers and the three of us bowed their heads together and apologized.

"Since the matter of the alliance has been decided, it cannot be reversed. But in terms of conditions, how about you consider my position and think about it again? I have to have enough reasons to convince His Royal Highness Mamoru Shimono (Hisamasa Asai). ”

"The foreign minister thinks that His Royal Highness the Commander has enough influence over His Highness Mamoru Shimono." I said respectfully.

"Oh?" Asai Nagamasa cast his gaze over, "Why did His Highness Kira say this?" ”

"The foreign minister believes that His Royal Highness is one and two, and two and one are in a relationship between His Royal Highness and His Royal Highness Shimono Mori."

Really, do you want me to say it explicitly? Aren't you father and son singing a double reed and trying to get enough out of the covenant!

Asai Nagamasa stared at me for a long time, and finally nodded.

"Two conditions. As long as His Highness Danmasa agrees, I can convince His Highness Mamoru Shimono to promise to deal with Mino together with you! ”

"Please show your Highness the former guard." Niwa Nagahide, who is the envoy, leans over and salutes.

"First, after capturing Mino, you must not harm the mother and son of His Royal Highness Longxing, and must hand it over to us; Second, the main reason for agreeing to form an alliance this time is that the three of Mino committed rebellion, put the lord under house arrest, and after crusading against these rebels, they want to return the four counties of Ishizu, Bupo, Anhachi, and Ikeda in Nishimino to His Royal Highness Ryuko......"

Return to Saito Ryuko? Since Saito Ryuko is in the hands of the Asai family, what is the difference between this and ceding the four counties to the Asai family?

Well, I know why Nobunaga, after conquering Mino, wanted to release Saito Ryuko to Nagashima; Why did you go to Kotani Castle to win over Asai Nagamasa in person before attacking the Rokkaku......

Later generations believed that the conditions for the alliance between Oda and Asai involved the Asakura family. However, at this time, the alliance between the Asakura and Asai families had long since existed in name only, and they were only maintaining peace. The battle that decided the rise and fall of the main family, the Asai family did not ask the Asakura family for reinforcements; And the Asakura family's Wakasa strategy has completely left behind the Asai family, which is close at hand. What's more, the Asai family is definitely not pedantic, and their start and fortune depend on all conspiracy. And in this era, even the agreement between the two parties to the alliance can be violated at any time, let alone the clause against the third party?

I can assure you that when Nobunaga came, he did not mention anything about the Asakura family. His current energy is all focused on eliminating Xinqing and Raider Mino.

I can also guarantee that Nobunaga will definitely agree to both conditions.

I can also guarantee that after taking Mino, he will definitely miss the ......;